


birds of a feather

by sunnynights



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Afterlife, Character Study, Crossover, Gen, Jealousy, Loneliness, Post-Canon, Post-Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3, Post-Vecna Arc (Critical Role)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22802524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnynights/pseuds/sunnynights
Summary: two champions of the Raven Queen, two worlds apart
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	birds of a feather

There is an infinite number of universes. That point cannot be disputed. Some protect and nurture life, some don't. Some have been lost to the ages, some sojourn on beyond time itself. Some found themselves devoured by a black hunger, while others were saved by the flight of seven birds. Yet many more remain untouched, uninfluenced by the status of fellow dimensions. No one was able to traverse these universes quite like the crew of the Starblaster did. But from time to time, two dimensions would align in just the right way. The stars and skies would bleed into each other, waiting for a keen eye to notice. If one were to ask Vax'ildan why or how he was able to gaze into this world, he would simply call it fate.

The lands Vax'ildan saw in these fissures of time and space weren't completely foreign to him. There was land and water. There were elves, humans, gnomes, goliaths. Though the Common they spoke was a little different than his, he could make sense of what reached his ears. But the Exandria and Tal'Dorei he knew were replaced with Toril and Faerun. Where he knew Ioun was Oghma, where he knew Melora was Pan. One thing that was acutely familiar, however, was the shadowy presence of the Raven Queen and her lone champion.

His name was Kravitz. Sometimes he appeared strikingly handsome, with dark skin and neat ropes of coarse black hair. Other times, he was glowing red eyes encased in bone and suffering. He rarely smiled as he swung his scythe without mercy on escaped souls and violators of death and fate. For a number of centuries, Vax'ildan watched him curiously. The reaper did not choose this loyalty to the Raven Queen but he served with reverence. And like him, he was completely alone. Vax'ildan found himself cheering for his triumphs, resting uneasily when he failed. He felt the inklings of warmth, the barest sense of camaraderie, feelings that had eluded him since he was forced to leave behind those he loved.

Vax'ildan peered through the veil like he had nearly a hundred times before, strangely excited to catch a glimpse of Kravitz performing his usual duties. Instead, he found the man seated in a dark room, the pervasive aura of romance mingling with the heat of a kiln. Hands smeared with clay, breath sweet with wine, knees shyly touching a stunning elf's. A smile pulling at the corners of his lips. And Vax'ildan's immortal soul, long silenced by the nature of his duty, seethed with discontent. It kicked and screamed like a child into the void at this injustice. He felt betrayed by a god that wasn't his and by a man who didn't even know he existed. How was it that the Raven Queen's champion in another world could live among the mortals, _even go on dates_ , while he couldn't visit Keyleth for the thousands of years she lived until the day he carried her soul to the afterlife?

Like an animal hurt reaching for a scorching flame, Vax'ildan tended to his wounds and stayed away. Every time the urge to see this reaper's life would surface, he pushed it back down. Until a night came where his solitude got the better of him and he looked once more. Kravitz was back to his duties but he wasn't alone. The red sparking forms of an unknown man and a vaguely recognizable woman accompanied him. At first, Vax'ildan mistook her for the elf from before. But as he watched them, laughing and fighting as one, he understood. A twin, full of fire and confidence and beauty. And at her side was a man, full of intelligence and practicality and so much love for her. A pairing so familiar that it seared through his chest like a burning blade. He would have missed Vex'halia and Percival's wedding day if it hadn't been for the bard's last Wish.

Vax'ildan ended his wistful gazing into this other universe with that vision. It didn't matter anyway, as the dimensions fell out of alignment the next day. Eventually, his anger fell away and he returned to the cold, unfeeling milieu of his service. But as the apathy of immortality stole his fury, he managed to hold onto the smallest fragment of well wishes. He hoped Kravitz would enjoy the gifts fate hadn't provided him, value the unlife he didn't get to live.

**Author's Note:**

> me: let's write a fun, lighthearted crossover fic about two of your favorite dnd shows!  
> my brain: we have crossover fic at home  
> crossover fic at home:
> 
> Also I'm almost at 420 kudos and that might literally be my biggest accomplishment


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